Marketing

FERC Friday issued a favorable environmental assessment to Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC for a natural gas compressor station project in Minisink, NY, to boost firm deliveries of Marcellus Shale gas to its interconnection with Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC at Ramapo, NY, to approximately 675,000 Dth/d to serve the Northeast and New England markets.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the state would be prudent in developing the Marcellus and Utica shales, maintaining tough environmental regulations while looking to attract jobs and investment.

FERC Monday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Northeast Upgrade Project, which when combined with the 300 Line expansion that recently went into service, will add 1 Bcf/d of capacity to transport gas from the Marcellus Shale basin to Northeast markets.

Marathon Oil Corp. CEO Clarence Cazalot said the company’s purchase of 141,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale from Hilcorp Resources Holdings LP for $3.5 billion was exceeding expectations, with production totaling nearly 1,000 boe/d on Tuesday, Marathon’s first official day as operator (see Shale Daily, June 2).

In the article “Bison Pipeline is Back and Eyeing Growth” (see NGI, Oct. 17), NGI misquoted Todd Johnson, TransCanada’s marketing director for U.S. Pipelines West, in his remarks regarding the company’s restart of the Bison natural gas pipeline following a rupture in July. For the record, TransCanada provided the following statement: “TransCanada worked closely with the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) in the aftermath of the incident to identify what actions would need to be taken in order to safely return the pipeline to service at its approved maximum allowable operating pressure. Among other things, TransCanada conducted an inline inspection of the entire length of the pipe and provided the data and analysis to PHMSA. PHMSA worked diligently with the TransCanada team and the information provided and concluded that as of noon Saturday, October 8, Bison could safely lift its force majeure condition and return to full service at its original maximum allowable operating pressure.” NGI regrets the error.

In the article “Bison Pipeline is Back and Eyeing Growth” (see Daily GPI, Oct. 17), NGI misquoted Todd Johnson, TransCanada’s marketing director for U.S. Pipelines West, in his remarks regarding the company’s restart of the Bison natural gas pipeline following a rupture in July. For the record, TransCanada provided the following statement: “TransCanada worked closely with the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) in the aftermath of the incident to identify what actions would need to be taken in order to safely return the pipeline to service at its approved maximum allowable operating pressure. Among other things, TransCanada conducted an inline inspection of the entire length of the pipe and provided the data and analysis to PHMSA. PHMSA worked diligently with the TransCanada team and the information provided and concluded that as of noon Saturday, October 8, Bison could safely lift its force majeure condition and return to full service at its original maximum allowable operating pressure.” NGI regrets the error.

A natural gas processing and fractionation plant, which is being built along the Ohio River in Natrium, WV, to serve producers in the Marcellus and Utica shales, is 90% contracted and should be in service by the end of 2012, Dominion said Thursday.

Statoil Marketing and Trading Inc. (SMT) will supply NOVA Chemicals Corp. with a long-term supply of ethane from the Marcellus Shale play, under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced by the two companies.

A pipeline project to deliver Marcellus Shale ethane from Pennsylvania to Canadian markets was announced Tuesday by MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP.